“Vivienne wove various forms of voiceover genre into our week’s curriculum, including commercial broadcast, eLearning and explainer video, and book narration scripts. With Vivienne’s encouragement, everyday I felt inspired to explore further outside of my comfort zone. She also included real world descriptions of what it was like to work in the VO realm, plus walked the class through the multiple platforms and resources for finding actual VO work. Within two weeks of completing Vivienne’s class in Rockport I had two paying voiceover contracts! Thank you, Vivienne! Your mentorship helped me realize I could really do this.”
Dell Hambleton, Winning Hearts & Minds: A Career in Voiceover
“INVEST in yourself! I had an absolute blast in Vivienne’s class last spring in the woods of Camden and recommend this to everyone up there interested in narration or audiobooks.”
Greg Littlefield, The Voice in Their Ear
“I cannot TELL you how delighted and re-energized I was after the weekend JOYOUS work shop with you and my new tribe! I learned enormous HEAPS of information, and my confidence in entering the audio book narration world has been buoyed! You were terrific, funny, warm and ACCOMPLISHED and we were all so fortunate to be your students for 2 days that seemed to have PF Flyers on and WHIZ by.”
Lynn Bushee, The Voice in Their Ear
“Thank you for giving such great instruction and for the practical nature of it. We didn’t just leave with some narration skills, but we had actual places to start finding jobs and tips on how to do it. The workshop was a brilliant mix of skill and career development.”
Mike Brzezowski, The Voice in Their Ear
About “The Voice in Their Ear”
A workshop created for would-be audiobook narrators
Vivienne’s workshop outlines the basics for setting up an effective home studio/recording environment at minimal cost. Consider equipment options and DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software and differences between open recording and punch and roll formats. Production requirements for the major online audiobook platforms are reviewed and students create their own online profiles. Then it’s a deep dive into how to shape winning reads – the ones that persuade authors to hire you to narrate their audiobooks and compel audiences to listen. Discover how to analyze text for cues on tone and genre delivery (fiction and non-fiction), determine POV (and how to handle shifting POVs), and practice delineating characterizations. Practice narrations on mic, get constructive critique of the work, and record samples to publish on ACX, Findaway Voices and other audiobook platforms.
This class is for anyone interested in pursuing work as an audiobook narrator, as well as any authors interested in narrating their own work to be sold in audiobook format on Audible/Amazon. Explore and reveal the emotional truth – your emotional truth – that powers the best audiobook narrations.
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About “Winning Hearts and Minds: A Career in Voiceover”
The market for voiceover work is substantial and continues to expand. It’s a field in which both union and non-union talent can find and win lucrative jobs. But what makes for a successful read? How do we grab and hold the listener? This class is designed for voiceover talent and for directors and producers working with voiceover artists.
There are secrets to making even the most challenging script sound both effortless and compelling. How do voiceover artists effectively interpret and use in-the-moment direction? How can directors break down a script and communicate what they want to the talent?
Students will record, receive and provide feedback on selections from audiobooks, narrations, commercial and promo copy, animation and video games, industrials, and trailers.
We’ll review the practical elements of setting up a home studio and identifying the right equipment and sound-editing software programs to create professional auditions and record jobs for clients.
The art of directing the emotionally-connected voiceover is at the center of this work. Directors of narrative films and television shows, documentarians employing voiceover in their work, and producers and directors of corporate industrials will benefit from learning “the voiceover” from inside out, and will practice direction in class daily using a range of scripts.
The field is changing rapidly and it’s never been easier for beginning voiceover artists to break in, and for experienced voiceover artists to take more direct control over their careers and expand into new areas of the voiceover market.